Annual Analysis Card Payments

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1 Annual Analysis Card Payments Cards and Transactions February 2014 With an expected GDP growth of 0.5% and an almost 1% decline in consumption, analysts define 2013 as a year of feeble economic recovery in an uncertain and volatile environment. However, there is growth in the Bulgarian market in bank cards. It is evident from the incremental number of transactions and the larger turnover realized at POS terminals. In 2013, the number of purchases made through POS terminals increased by 20% yoy, and the turnover by 21%. UniCredit Bulbank has once again proven its strong position and growth higher than the market, as well as its leadership in terms of number of issued cards, number of transactions and realized turnovers with them. Compared to 2012 the bank saw a growth of 39% in transactions and 31% in turnovers. Traditionally, card payment turnovers increase before and during the holidays and in December cardholders spent 40% more than the monthly average at POS terminals in The holidays also underscored the year-round trend in card payments, namely of consumers using POS terminals more often and for smaller amounts. The average transaction amount at POS terminals in December was BGN 70, which is the smallest for the last 3 years (compared to BGN 74 in 2012 and 2011, and BGN 77 in 2010). Electronic trade is not an exception. Last year merchants accepting electronic payments and partners of UniCredit Bulbank saw a 30% growth in the network of terminals and a 23% increase in the fulfilled purchases. Network of Terminals The growth of card payments is naturally supported by the expanding network of terminals country-wide. According to the latest data of BNB, merchants with POS terminals as at the end of the first half of 2013 were approximately 42,000, or 24% more than the previous year. On a national scale, POS terminals are 72,000 (9% growth on 2012), and АТМs 5,900 (1% growth on 2012). In the past year, UniCredit Bulbank s POS network expanded by 30%, which ensures the bank a leading position in terms of number of transactions fulfilled through POS terminals and respectively turnovers. Simultaneously, the bank s network of retailers offering discounts to ladies holding UniCredit Bulbank s Donna cards was also enlarged. The special discounts are available to women already in 670 merchant outlets compared to the nearly 400 in In one year, the number of UniCredit Bulbank s ATMs all over the country increased by 8% to 700, with 23 out of them being BNAs (allowing cash deposits) and 550 ensuring cardholders a 24/7 access to their accounts. All ATMs of UniCredit Bulbank enable cardholders to use the Cash M service, through which they can make an instant remittance of up to BGN 400 to another ATM of the bank, or order more than one remittance in the case of larger sums. The ordering happens with a valid debit or credit card issued by UniCredit Bulbank and in the process the client needs to enter the

2 mobile phone number of the recipient and a 4-digit password for the receiving, which the client must then tell the recipient. On the other hand, to the recipient of the remittance is sent an SMS notification with a 6-digit code. With this code and the 4-digit password he or she can withdraw the funds at any ATM of UniCredit, regardless of the type of his or her card and its issuing bank. The ATM network of the bank continues to provide the possibility for registration for the Secure Online Payments service. The service ensures a higher level of security in online shopping because the cardholder can identify himself to the online merchant by entering an additional secret password. Regardless of the expanding network of terminals all over the country, banks still need to focus on installing terminals in the smaller towns and villages and at smaller retailers in order to establish card payments and the innovations related to them. Contactless Card Payments At the end of last year banks, among which UniCredit Bulbank, presented the contactless cards and the payments with them to their clients. With these cards cardholders can pay faster for their purchases of up to BGN 25 without inserting the card in the POS terminal, without entering PIN and without signing anywhere. In this way the payment with bank cards at terminals becomes easier and more comfortable, even for petty amounts. For amounts exceeding BGN 25 clients can also pay in a contactless way but have to enter their PIN as well. Contactless cards have an additional (upgraded) functionality, which allows contactless payments, but of course they may be used for transactions in the well-known way at POS terminals with reading of the chip or the magnetic stripe and mandatory PIN entry, at ATMs and on the Internet. The method of payment depends entirely on the preference of the cardholder. Merchants who accept contactless payments may also avail of the advantages of the standard faster speed of payment, reduced waiting times and increased turnovers (according to a research of the international card organizations, contactless payments increase turnover by up to 30%). This type of card payment is especially suitable for merchant outlets with big customer flow and a relatively low amount per payment fast food restaurants, supermarkets, coffee shops, gas stations, cinemas, public transport, entertainment centers, parking lots, etc. With the new cards cardholders can pay at over 1.2 million POS terminals in 22 countries in Europe. The number of cards and locations grows every day and in some markets contactless cards represent around 70% of all cards issued (the UK, Poland, Slovakia). In Bulgaria there are currently around 4,000 POS terminals and UniCredit Bulbank will continue to invest in the development of the terminals network throughout It is expected that by the end of the year in Bulgaria there will be issued around 1.2 million contactless cards, which will be served by 7,500 POS terminals featuring the contactless functionality. UniCredit Bulbank has proven its leadership on the market by issuing and servicing debit and credit cards of both brands - Visa and MasterCard. Moreover, keeping abreast of the trends and the growing spread of contactless payments, the bank follows a strategy of automatic

3 reissuing of expiring cards as contactless ones, promoting contactless cards for new issuing, as well as a gradual migration of all types of mass cards to cards with the contactless functionality. Along with that, the Bank launched the issuing of an exclusive new product: Debit MasterCard Contactless, which replaces the existing products Maestro and MasterCard Standard Debit. The new card combines the best of Maestro and MasterCard Standard Debit, and provides clients a higher functional level for a good price. Campaigns and promotions For a consecutive year, banks in the market held various campaigns, independently or jointly with the international card organizations, in order to stimulate the issuing of cards and to motivate cardholders to pay with them. Some of the most important promotional campaigns of UniCredit were MasterCard UEFA, Visa/V PAY Donna, V PAY and V PAY Lukoil, as well as the large-scale campaign for the launching of the contactless cards at the end of the year. MasterCard UEFA UniCredit has entered the fifth year of its strategic partnership with MasterCard as an official sponsor of UEFA Champions League. In the last year, the traditional campaign for issuing and stimulating the use of MasterCard UEFA cards presented the most keen football fans with package gifts for the semi-finals and the final of UEFA Champions League, as well as a unique mug with the logo of UniCredit / UEFA Champions League and the attractive design of the card. With the start of the new championship at the end of 2013, the campaign is active again and is already in its second phase in the first quarter of 2014, giving cardholders branded gifts along with football game tickets. V PAY and V PAY Lukoil In 2013 UniCredit Bulbank, the largest issuer of V PAY cards and a partner of Lukoil with the co-branded V PAY Lukoil card, held its traditional campaigns for the two card products. The promotions were focused on the issuing and use of the cards and reminded the key advantages of the V PAY technology maximum protection of payments through chip and PIN (the magnetic stripe does not store any payment information and this eliminates the risk of copying the information recorded on the card) and European coverage. On the other hand, V PAY Lukoil provides an attractive discount of 2% for payment of fuel, motor oils and consumer goods at the LUKOIL service stations all over the country. Furthermore, in the past year the bank optimized the process of issuing of the V PAY Lukoil cards at the service stations. Clients can now apply for issuing of a card by filling in a short form at the Lukoil stations and afterwards an employee of the bank will contact them and arrange for the receiving of the card with just one visit to a branch convenient for the client. Of course every existing or future client of the bank may also directly contact the Call Center of UniCredit Bulbank and request a card (including a V PAY Lukoil card). Visa/V PAY Donna The cards created especially for the ladies have become widely popular among the female clients of the bank. The bank stimulated the issuing and use of the Donna cards throughout 2013 and actively expanded the relevant retailers network country-wide (currently 670) in order to cater for as many needs of its cardholders as possible.

4 Contactless cards UniCredit Bulbank ended the year with a massive communication campaign for the start of the contactless payments with the single concept of The Universal Banknote the fast and secure way to pay with just one move. The campaign is still active and is going on through all channels printed advertising inside and outside the branches, direct marketing, Internet promoting, radio advertisements in order to reach and convince more users of the convenience of the new standard in payments. Special attention was paid to the new product Debit MasterCard with a TV commercial during the Christmas and New Year holidays, which highlighted the product along with the presentation of the contactless cards. The campaign continues in 2014, together with an initiative for stimulation of the issuing and use of Debit MasterCard. Security of card payments In a constant effort to enhance the security of card payments and build a sustainable consumer confidence in the use of cards, banks in Bulgaria have been actively improving the payment instruments and applying good practices of the international card organizations. Clients are already familiar with the skimming-proof V PAY card, as well as with the Secure Online Payments service which ensures a higher level of security in online shopping through an additional secret password. Last year on the other hand there was introduced an innovation in the security of card payments, namely Activation During Shopping an automated system which invites users to create their personal 3D Secure password for secure online payments. When the client is shopping with his or her card on the Internet, he or she is prompted by UniCredit Bulbank to register the card for the Secure Online Payments service. To do so the client has to enter the information requested in the communication and the registration is complete after the client has created his or her own secret password for payment on the web, with no extra fees. Regardless of all innovations, one should not forget the basic rules ensuring comfort in the use of cards, easy to apply and with proven efficiency: The card must be kept with due care and attention; The card and card details must be used only the cardholder in person; The client must change the PIN code at an ATM immediately after receiving the card and must memorize it; Hide the PIN entering by hand upon withdrawal of money at ATMs; Subscribe the card for the Secure Online Payments service; Subscribe the card for the SMS notification service. Trends for 2014 The development of contactless payments will undoubtedly be a main focus for banks in Bulgaria in Together with the expansion of the card market in terms of number of cards and activity of cardholders, banks will actively stimulate payments with contactless cards and will expand the network of devices having the contactless functionality. The adoption of the new payment standard by users depends mainly on its mass supply, clear communication and education on the part of banks and merchants.

5 Currently, contactless cards issued in Europe count around 80 million in 22 countries, and according to forecasts of the international card organizations the new standard is being adopted everywhere at a fast pace. The main issuers of contactless cards can be found in the UK, France, Turkey, Poland, Italy and Germany, and for the last year the number of contactless cards in most of these countries increased at least twice, while of transactions at least four times. Analysts foresee that globally the number of cards will rise to a quarter billion in 2014, with a large share of the European market. What we can further expect this year is: The first steps in card mobile payments and transfers (through mobile phones); Loyalty programs for cardholders and strengthening the partnerships with key merchants; Additional innovative methods for protection of the cards and the security of card payments; Expanding the functionalities and card payment servicing opportunities with small and medium-sized enterprises; Development of the POS terminal network in smaller towns and smaller merchant outlets; Development of the network of card payment self-service terminals; Further broadening of the range of products and services offered to high-class clients of the banks; Establishing a product and service line for students; Development of electronic trade by increasing the number of virtual terminals and of cardholders using the service.